KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN FARS PROVINCE ABOUT INTAKE OF IRON SUPPLEMENTS

Abstract

During pregnancy, the need of mother and fetus to iron gradually increases and will reach at its most level at the end of the pregnancy. This study was preformed to evaluate the knowledge and practice of pregnant women in Fars Province about supplements containing iron intake. Data collection was a questionnaire completed by face to face interview using simple nonrandom sampling method in 2997 pregnant women of urban and rural areas including their demographic information and questions about the importance and method of consumption, unused complications and the method of iron table intake. 44.4% of women were in the first pregnancy, 25.9% in the second, 14.2% in the third and 6.9% of pregnancies were unwanted ones. 75.9% of pregnant women were aware about the reason of iron supplementary use during pregnancy, 86.3% knew the method of administration and 91% used supplements containing iron after fourth month of pregnancy. The lowest rate was seen in Estahban and the highest in Abadeh and Eghlid and 43.3% used the tablet correctly. Further studies are needed to test the stool simultaneously to control daily iron intake and judge about the percentage of correct daily iron, the percentage of correct use and digestive system complications.